The Caesars Palace Coup | Sujeet Indap & Max Frumes

The Caesars Palace Coup: How a Billionaire Brawl Over the Famous Casino Exposed the Power and Greed of Wall Street | Max Frumes & Sujeet Indap

How did a bitter battle over a legendary Las Vegas resort expose the ruthless mechanics of modern distressed debt investing? Max Frumes and Sujeet Indap investigate.

About the Book:

It was the most brutal corporate restructuring in Wall Street history.

The 2015 bankruptcy brawl for the storied casino giant, Caesars Entertainment, pitted brilliant and ruthless private equity legends against the world's most relentless hedge fund wizards.

In the tradition of Barbarians at the Gate and The Big Short comes the riveting, multi-dimensional poker game between private equity firms and distressed debt hedge funds that played out from the Vegas Strip to Manhattan boardrooms to Chicago courthouses and even, for a moment, the halls of the United States Congress.

On one side: relentless financial engineers Marc Rowan, David Sambur, and David Bonderman with their teams at Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital.

On the other: superstar distressed debt investors Dave Miller and Ryan Mollett with their cohorts at the likes of Elliott Management, Oaktree Capital, and Appaloosa Management.

The Caesars bankruptcy put a twist on the old-fashioned casino heist.

Through a $27 billion leveraged buyout and a dizzying string of financial engineering transactions, Apollo and TPG—in the midst of the post-Great Recession slump—had seemingly snatched every prime asset of the company from creditors, with the notable exception of Caesars Palace.

But Caesars' hedge fund lenders and bondholders had scooped up the company's paper for nickels and dimes.

And with their own armies of lawyers and bankers, they were ready to do everything necessary to take back what they believed was theirs—if they could just stop their own infighting.

These modern financiers now dominate the scene in Corporate America as their fight-to-the-death mentality continues to shock workers, politicians, and broader society—and even each other.

In The Caesars Palace Coup, financial journalists Max Frumes and Sujeet Indap illuminate the brutal tactics of distressed debt mavens—vultures, as they are condemned—in the sale and purchase of even the biggest companies in the world with billions of dollars hanging in the balance.

Frequently Asked Questions About The Caesars Palace Coup:

• Q: Is this book focused on casino operations, gambling strategy, or mob history?
  A: No. While it takes place around the iconic Caesars Palace brand, this is a high-stakes corporate finance thriller. The plot moves entirely inside the boardrooms, luxury hotel suites, and courtrooms where the world's most aggressive hedge funds and private equity firms fought for control of a multi-billion-dollar corporate bankruptcy.
• Q: Who are the primary financial titans and billionaires featured in the conflict?
  A: The book charts a massive corporate war between elite Wall Street factions. On one side are Apollo Global Management (led by Marc Rowan) and TPG Capital, who took Caesars private in a catastrophic $31 billion leveraged buyout. On the other side are relentless distressed-debt hedge funds, most notably Elliott Management (led by Paul Singer).
• Q: What unique credentials do the authors bring to this highly complex financial case?
  A: The book is written by two of the premier investigative financial journalists in the industry. Max Frumes is the co-founder of LevFin Insights, a publication tracking the leveraged finance market, while Sujeet Indap is the US Editor of the Financial Times Lex column. Their backgrounds give them immense expert authority to break down complex financial data seamlessly.
• Q: What specific Wall Street maneuvers and legal strategies are exposed inside?
  A: The authors unpack the brutal mechanics of distressed debt investing. The narrative details how Apollo stripped Caesars of its most valuable, debt-free physical casino assets to keep them away from creditors, triggering an incredibly complex legal battle over fraudulent transfers, corporate shell games, and bankruptcy law loopholes.
• Q: Do I need an advanced degree in corporate finance to understand this book?
  A: Not at all. Frumes and Indap are highly praised for translating dense financial concepts like credit default swaps, leveraged buyouts, and bankruptcy restructuring into an accessible, fast-paced human narrative. It reads like a modern-day Barbarians at the Gate, making it highly engaging for any non-fiction true crime or business reader.

Summary:

Hedge fund warfare, corporate bankruptcy, and high-stakes Wall Street greed. Max Frumes and Sujeet Indap expose the ultimate casino battle in The Caesars Palace Coup.

About the Author(s):

Sujeet Indap: Entertainment Journalist

Sujeet Indap is the U.S. editor of the Lex Column at the Financial Times, where he contributes stories across the paper. He has written extensively on the intersection of corporate finance and corporate law. Indap was previously an investment banker before he joined the Financial Times in 2013. He is a graduate of Pomona College and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Indap lives in Manhattan, NY, with his wife.

Max Frumes: Entertainment Journalist

Max Frumes leads a news team at Fitch Solutions covering corporate debt and restructuring. He previously was the founding editor of a leading publication covering corporate bankruptcy, and before that reported for S&P’s Leveraged Commentary & Data and The Deal. Frumes received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MSJ from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.

He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.

Bibliographic Data:

• Full Title: The Caesars Palace Coup: How a Billionaire Brawl Over the Famous Casino Exposed the Power and Greed of Wall Street
• Author(s): Max Frumes, Sujeet Indap
• Publisher & Imprint: Diversion Books
• Publication Date: March 16, 2021
• Binding Format: Hardcover
• Condition: Pre-Owned / Very Good
• Edition: Hardcover
• Print Length: 384 Pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-13: 9781635767742
• ISBN-10: 1635767742
• Library of Congress (LCCN): 2020948924
• Primary Genre (BISAC): BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Corporate Finance / General
• Sub-Genres (BISAC): TRUE CRIME / White Collar Crime; BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Industries / Hospitality, Travel & Tourism; BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Business Ethics
• Dimensions: 6.0 x 1.25 x 9.0 inches
• Weight: 21.6 oz (approx. 1.35 lbs)

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