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THE IRON TRIANGLE: INSIDE THE SECRET WORLD OF THE CARLYLE GROUP
DAN BRIODY
3.56
215 ratings24 reviews
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A penetrating look at the company at the nexus of big business, government, and
defense The Carlyle Group is one of the largest private equity firms in the
world with over $13 billion in funds. Carlyle's investments include everything
from defense contractors to telecommunications and aerospace companies. But
there is more to this company than meets the eye. Carlyle's executives include
heavyweights from the worlds of business and politics, such as former secretary
of defense and CIA deputy director Frank Carlucci, former secretary of state
James Baker III, former President George Bush, former UK Prime Minister John
Major, and former chairman of the SEC Arthur Levitt. Osama Bin Laden's estranged
family was personally invested in the group until recently. In The Iron
Triangle, journalist Dan Briody examines a company at the nexus of big business,
government, and defense that, according to some sources, epitomizes corporate
cronyism, conflicts of interest, and war profiteering. This fascinating
examination leads readers into a w orld that few can imagine-full of clandestine
meetings, quid pro quo deals, bitter ironies, and pettyjealousies. And the cast
of characters includes some of the most powerful men in the world. Strap in,
because this ride could get a little bumpy. Dan Briody (New York, NY) is an
award-winning business journalist whose Red Herring article "Carlyle's Way"
broke the story on the inner workings of the Carlyle Group. Briody has appeared
on numerous radio and television programs covering the Carlyle Group and has
become a primary source for other journalists covering this story. Briody's
articles have appeared in Forbes, Red Herring, and the Industry Standard.
Show more
GenresPoliticsBusinessFinanceNonfictionHistoryEconomicsConspiracy Theories
...more
242 pages, Paperback
First published March 31, 2003
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAN BRIODY
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COMMUNITY REVIEWS
3.56
215 ratings24 reviews
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Zoë
80 reviews2 followers
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June 21, 2007
The story Dan Briody chronicles in The Iron Triangle: Inside the Secret World of
the Carlyle Group is one of a quest for power. Briody delves into the inner
characters of the Carlyle Group, their transactions, and the entire history.
Briody allows for there to always, in the back of the readers mind, to be the
question: is this group using its power legally? In fact, Briody’s underlying
theme stems from this question; Briody writes of the way business is done in
America, and most importantly, just how much of an impact that business has on
the United States government and policy- domestically and foreign.
Briody starts with the genesis of the Carlyle Group- the Eskimo tax loophole-
and the personalities of its founders and key people who helped start it. Briody
makes clear that personalities are crucial in the story of the Carlyle Group,
ultimately determining whether or not deals go through, who stays employed, and
the fate of companies that the Carlyle Group buys (for example: the Caterair
fiasco). Briody makes clear the political ties the Carlyle group has to the Bush
family, and other big names in politics, and how those relationship shape the
business the company does and what deals it makes (for example: Carlucci’s
employment with the firm after his term as Secretary of Defense).
Ultimately Briody is spelling out a conspiracy theory for the reader, but one
that is factual and needs to be realized. My problem with the term “conspiracy
theory” is that it insinuates that the hypothesis is radical and improbable.
Briody debunks this assumption by his candid account of the history of the
Carlyle group, and in turn spells out a scary reality of the future of American
politics, business, and the connective-ness of the United States and the global
economy private firms (and those like the Carlyle Group that deal with defense
and arms sales).
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gets-you-thinking history-class
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Dan
9 reviews1 follower
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June 13, 2008
A look at America's "military industrial complex." The author writes of the
major players and their influence of the former state heads, defense industry,
foreign govts, and Washington lawmakers manifested through the Caryle Group -
the largest private equitiy in the world.
Personally, I thought the author introduced too much bias and was premature to
jump to certain conclusions.
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Will Byrnes
1,337 reviews121k followers
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March 7, 2018
This is a pretty straightforward look at the birth and growth of the Carlisle
Group, hitting on the major events in the history of the company. It felt a bit
light, but that may be a factor of its abbreviated length. A good resource, with
some good reading, but not a must read.
nonfiction
1 like
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Eyrique Miller
11 reviews2 followers
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June 8, 2013
Interesting description of the history of Carlyle. At times it was very
repetitive and negative. It made me want to hurry up and be finished to read
something better.
1 like
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Kunal
117 reviews88 followers
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February 12, 2013
I must say I picked this book up initially for no particular reason aside from I
thought it is important to know about the most active private equity firm in the
world given I work in Financial Sponsors Coverage. However, whether you work in
the industry or not, this is a very enlightening book. It is ironic to see how
little people’s sentiment towards private equity has changed today relative to
how they viewed it when Carlyle was first founded in 1987 by Stephen Norris and
David Rubenstein (young staffer from the Carter administration) and others. Back
in the 1980s, the U.S. government reached a settlement with settlers in Alaska
granting them a large cash sum to be used towards building new businesses in
Alaska as payment for suppressing them all these years and taking their land.
Unfortunately enough, the Alaskan economy completely dried up during that time
and the mass majority of these businesses started filing for bankruptcy. The
U.S. government sure enough granted them the right to forego there taxes if
there business was loss making and Norris and Rubenstein realized the
opportunity there and all of a sudden ended up finding themselves advising
several Alaskans as they tried to scheme the government and expose the tax
loophole.
The amazing thing about the book is just the discussion around the number of
conflict of interests experienced within the Carlyle Group. Carlyle’s strategy
was to hire former politicians soon after they finished their tenure and the
company focused its efforts in the Defense world. There is no better person to
know the Defense demands and public policy than a former president of the United
States (George H. Bush) or the Secretary of Defense (Donald Rumsfield) who were
both Carlyle employees. What was even more surprising was that George H. Bush
was working at the Carlyle Group while his son, George W. Bush, was president of
the United States. With the Carlyle group owning several Defense companies who’s
client base consisted of the governments in the middle east such as Saudi
Arabia, the public policy of the United States had a great impact on Carlyle’s
revenue streams. It is quite amazing to think how much of an influence George H.
Bush could have on his son and how the decisions he would make as president
would impact his father directly financially. Seeing some of the letters that
the executives would write to Donald Rumsfield while he was Secretary of Defense
suggesting certain foreign relation policies is quite scary as one would think
that the Carlyle Group has no business recommending foreign policies to the
Secretary of Defense, but when you learn about the companies they owned, it all
starts to come together why they lobby as much as they do and why the build
these relationships within the White House. As they say, “The Iron Triangle” is
a scary thing. Carlyle’s companies would see tremendous growth after the 9/11
attacks and they also owned a government background check company that would
grow through the roof after the Anthrax scandal. Again, the book mentions
examples after examples questioning the motives of the Carlyle Group and
demonstrating how they have continued to have a competitive advantage by having
insiders working for the firm. Little do most people know, but Carlyle was
actually in the middle of a meeting with Osama Bin Laden’s brother on the day of
the September 11th attacks and they eventually ended their relationship once
people found this out and they began to become scrutinized.
You can’t knock the Carlyle Group as they have accomplished so much, but it has
come with some close calls and a lot of hair which you will soon find out after
reading this book.
Excerpts from the Book
With a nose for the big deal, the cocksure Norris is, by his own admission, a
difficult man to get along with. His time with the Carlyle Group, ending
abruptly in January 1995, was marked by tension, competition, and conflicting
egos. He is a man with casual disregard of those with whom he is conversing. His
eyes flit around the room. He looks at everything but you. He talks freely, with
no fear of consequence, and rarely pauses for a retort. He talks over you.
Athletic, fit, handsome, and with a healthy taste for the good life, Norris
speaks longingly, even boastfully, of his time with the Carlyle Group, fondly
recalling his blockbuster deals with rich Saudi princes and Fortune 500
companies. He is, and always has been, a man that swings for the fences.
In late 1986, Norris, then an executive with Marriott's mergers and acquisitions
group and a tax whiz, got wind of a little-known tax loophole that allowed
Eskimo-owned companies in Alaska to sell their losses to profitable companies.
The origin of the loop-hole dated back to 1971, when Alaskan natives arrived at
a unique settlement with the federal government over ownership claims of Alaskan
land. Typically, when Native Americans sued the U.S. government over the
atrocities committed during the nation's "manifest destiny" era, the settlements
revolved around land, otherwise known as reservations. The logic went that if
the government could return some portion of the land they stole in claiming
America for themselves, the irreparable cultural damage done to Native Americans
in the process would somehow be forgotten. But the Eskimos weren't buying it.
Unlike Native Americans in the lower 48 states, Alaska's natives eschewed the
traditional award of land reservations. Instead, the Alaskans chose cash. Under
a unique settlement, Alaskan natives were allowed to set up native-run
corporations to invest and manage the money they had been awarded. In the end,
the Eskimos and other native Alaskans ended up with $962 million to manage as
they saw fit. They also managed to negotiate for 44 million acres of land on
which to run their businesses. It was the price paid to them for decades of
oppression, and they took it.
Because of some bureaucratic foot-dragging and truly unfortunate timing, the
newly formed corporations missed out on Alaska's boom time in the mid-1970s.
Fishing, timber, and oil, three of the local industries most companies were set
up around, experienced major downturns. Many of the companies fell prey to
mismanagement, investing in foolish pursuits like tire manufacturers, concrete
plants, and hotels. Even though they had chosen their own fate, the owners of
the companies felt they had been set up to fail. More than 180 companies had
been formed out of the settlement. Only one managed to consistently turn a
profit. It was a total disaster.
The companies soon found themselves facing huge losses, and limited options for
turning things around. In 1983, Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens worked to save his
floundering constituency by incorporating a clause in the 1984 tax bill that
allowed the Alaskan-owned companies to leverage their losses by selling them to
profitable companies looking for a break on their taxes. Essentially, if an
Alaskan company lost $10 million in a fiscal year, they would sell the losses
for $7 million in much-needed cash. The buyer would then write the losses off
against its profits, getting a $10 million tax credit for just $7 million.
Everyone's happy, except, of course, the government. Norris smelled money. But
he needed help from someone. Someone with exceptional connections. Someone that
knew everybody, including some Alaskan Eskimos.
Someone like David Rubenstein.
Rubenstein: Carlyle's Beating Heart
Ask enough people about David Rubenstein, and you start to hear the same
descriptors over and over: brilliant, driven, tireless. Norris still maintains
an objective respect for Rubenstein, with whom he joined forces in 1986.
Rubenstein had been toiling as a Washington, DC, lawyer for six years with the
mergers and acquisitions groups at Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge and G.
William Miller & Co. when Norris came calling. Norris, who often transitions
seamlessly between utterly eloquent and outright crude, calls Rubenstein
"indefatigable," "indomitable," and "f**king brilliant." Rubenstein would go on
to become the very heart and soul of Carlyle, driving the company forward
through clashing egos and countless near-scandals.
After graduating from the University of Chicago Law School in 1973, Rubenstein
worked his way up the political ranks with blazing speed. At the tender age of
27, he became the deputy domestic policy assistant to President Jimmy Carter. He
was the first person in the office in the morning, and the last to leave. One of
the most widely circulated stories about Rubenstein is that he survived solely
on vending machine fare during his time at the White House, a claim he does not
refute. He strongly believed in the nobility of being a public servant. He was
young, idealistic, and most of all, innocent.
In the spring of 1980, Rubenstein filed a memo to the president late one night.
Before he left to go home-some thought that he was actually living in the White
House due to his late hours-he remembered something he had intended to add to
the memo, and went into the president's office to fetch the document. After
shuffling through some papers in the president's inbox, he found the memo,
amended it, and returned it to the stack. The next morning, President Carter
questioned Rubenstein about his late-night foray into his office, asking him
pointedly and repeatedly what he had seen while he was there. Rubenstein
truthfully told the president that he simply got his memo, and then returned it,
seeing nothing in the process. As it turns out, atop the stack of papers on
Carter's desk, were the plans for the ill-fated rescue attempt of America's
Iranian hostages in April 1980. The story, related to me by Norris, demonstrates
Rubenstein's early naiveté. It also foreshadows the paranoia that some say has
grown inside him over the past 20 years in Washington, DC. "He sees
conspiracies," says Norris.
After Carter lost to Reagan in 1981, Rubenstein was released into the world of
high-priced beltway lobbyists. It was a business that insulted Rubenstein's
renowned intelligence and underutilized his many talents. His distaste for the
work was captured in a 1993 article in New Republic, where he was quoted as
saying, "I found it demeaning, it was legalized bribery." His opinion of
lobbying would change later in his career.
Rubenstein would soon be delivered from the tedium of Washington influence
peddling, when Norris, while still working for Marriott, contacted him, looking
for a way to cash in on what would come to be known within Carlyle as the Great
Eskimo Tax Scam.
Norris' entire job at the time was to scour tax law and find ways to save
Marriott millions. He hired Rubenstein and William Barr, the man who would go on
to become attorney general from 1991 to 1993, from Shaw, Pittman, Potts &
Trowbridge, a Washington law firm that had represented Marriott on the Hill in
the past. Along with his relentless work ethic, Rubenstein had also garnered a
reputation for his extensive Rolodex. When Norris asked him if he knew any
native Alaskans, Rubenstein had no problem coming up with some names.
Marriott ended up paying Rubenstein and Barr a seven-figure fee for their help
in saving them a bundle on their taxes in 1986. Norris, after reading the tax
bill closely, decided there was a much greater opportunity here than just this
one-shot deal. He figured if Rubenstein and Barr could make out so handsomely
for their limited role in facilitating Marriott's tax relief, he could, too.
Norris left Marriott and set up shop in Seattle to pursue the deals, all the
while talking to investors about opening up a little business of his own.
Before long, Norris and Rubenstein were flying Eskimos into Washington, DC,
buttering them up, and brokering deals between them and profitable American
companies. Finding the loss-making Eskimos was easier than either of them had
imagined, and the profitable counterparts couldn't get enough of the free money.
Norris and Rubenstein took a 1 percent cut of the transactions and sent an
estimated $1 billion through the loop-hole. A cottage industry had been born.
After clearing close to $10 million, Norris and Rubenstein recognized the
ongoing potential of the business, and decided to incorporate. For corporate
representation, the two hired none other than Ron Astin of the venerable Houston
law firm Vinson & Elkins. (Astin would later find himself testifying before
Congress about offshore partnerships he had helped set up for Enron.) With the
crew in place, liabilities limited, and money coming in the door, the boys were
ready to make something of themselves. All they needed now was a name.
During this time, Norris and Rubenstein frequented the Carlyle Hotel in New
York. Norris loved the place. It was the kind of over-the-top lavishness he
couldn't get enough of. It had a high-roller feel to it. His hero, Andre Meyer,
the legendary head of investment bank Lazard Freres, had lived there for years.
Norris felt the name lent the company a silk-stocking air. After selling
Rubenstein on the idea, the Carlyle Group was born.
That the Carlyle Group was formed out of a temporary tax loophole, which was
eliminated a year later, is utterly appropriate. David Rubenstein, as dedicated
a public servant as there ever was, saw fit to found his company on a scheme
that denied the federal government close to $1 billion in taxes. It was the
first of many ironies that would compromise Rubenstein's political roots as his
career with Carlyle progressed. As with many of the Carlyle Group's future
deals, the Great Eskimo Tax Scam was entirely legal. Whether it was ethical, is
another question.
The tax loophole unwittingly encouraged Eskimo companies to overstate their
losses, and the IRS was called in to investigate. A discrepancy between "hard"
and "soft" losses arose. Corporate appraisers took liberties in estimating the
loss in value of certain goods, like timber and oil. Suddenly everyone in Alaska
had losses for sale. It was a bonanza for accountants. Though no charges were
ever filed, the case portends the current corporate malfeasance in America, in
which companies inf late revenues and earnings through marginally legal
accounting.
It bears mentioning that in certain cases, the tax loophole actually did what it
was intended to do. Some Alaskan companies took the capital they received and
reinvested, saving themselves from certain bankruptcy. Finally, however, just
before Carlyle could complete a $500 million deal with a company called Cook
Inlet, the government had seen enough of its money wasted, and sewed up the
hole. It was the end of a great scheme for Carlyle, and it would be the last
easy money the company saw for half a decade.
Goin' Legit
After the tax loophole closed, Norris and Rubenstein briskly went about building
an empire. They brought Dan D'Aniello over from Marriott, whose salary Norris
personally guaranteed. They also signed up William Conway, a former chief
financial officer at MCI Communications. Funding for what Rubenstein was
pitching as a leveraged buy-out firm came mainly from Pittsburgh's wealthy
Richard K. Mellon family and Ed Mathias at T. Rowe Price, the Baltimore-based
investment bank. It only took $5 million to get them on their way.
It was the go-go 1980s, and big business was flying high. Leveraged buyouts were
the name of the game. This particular brand of cut-throat business consisted of
big banks borrowing billions, acquiring huge positions in struggling companies,
snatching them up on the cheap, and selling them off for parts or turning them
around. Everyone was getting rich and Rubenstein was itching to get a piece of
the action. He would later confess to a reporter that "I thought I had a pretty
good IQ myself, and people were making a lot more money than me who I thought
maybe weren't so smart."
The most important thing for buyout firms, otherwise known as private equity
firms, is raising capital. The more money a given firm can raise, the more
successful it can be. Like a mutual fund, a buyout fund collects money from a
number of sources-wealthy individuals, institutional investors, pension
funds-then invests it on their behalf. But instead of investing in stocks,
buyout funds buy companies, with the intention of turning them around and
selling them for a profit. Typically, the companies are bought with a mix of
capital and debt, somewhat mitigating the risk of the buyer. Hence, the
leveraged buyout, or LBO, nickname. The companies are then held in a portfolio,
or fund, which usually has a target market or theme. It can be a dangerous form
of investing, open only to the extremely wealthy. Minimum investments in a given
fund are usually no less than $1 million, and returns are generally expected to
be more than 25 percent, usually within 10 years, sometimes less. Downside can
be that much and more. LBOs are not for the faint of heart.
The Carlyle Group based themselves in Washington, DC, instead of the more
traditional buy-out firm haunts of New York or Chicago, a move that surprised
many in the business. Arthur Miltenberger, then chief investment officer of the
Mellon Foundation, would tell Forbes at the time, "I was intrigued by a merchant
bank based in Washington, DC, because foreigners have to come to Washington."
Upon incorporation, Carlyle hardly registered a blip on the radar of older, more
established buyout firms like Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts and Fortsmann Little.
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Kevin Kosar
Author 26 books26 followers
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November 15, 2021
I got this book from a friend many years ago, but it sat on my shelf unread.
Recently, I was thinking about this late friend and decided it was past time to
crack The Iron Triangle.
I study governance for a living, and I like investigative journalism and efforts
to expose corruption. Mr. Briody's book shows how Washington, DC can be a very
clubby place, with high ranking government officials, corporations (especially
defense), and investment houses (like Carlyle).
This book, however, has a few revelations (I won't spoil them) but it is
lamentably thick with innuendo... Read more of this review at
http://kevinrkosar.com/wordpress/revi...
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Monzenn
592 reviews1 follower
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March 29, 2023
It's a controversial book about a controversial subject, that's for sure. But it
did educate me more about the Carlyle Group, and it led me to rabbit holes that
I am interested to pursue (even the Philippine angle alone is interesting), so I
have to give the book max props for that.
finance-bookclub-inventory firm-focus
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Jacob Kuba
59 reviews
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January 4, 2021
Felt a bit too sensationalist.
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John
16 reviews
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January 16, 2022
Fascinating account on how to profit from war and empire-building. I would
recommend it to aspiring Chinese and Russian MIC investors.
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Jere
9 reviews
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May 3, 2023
Started out interestingly covering the beginnings of the group. About 1/2 way
through the book it’s true colors came to light bashing the GOP. I save my books
but not this one, into the trash can!
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Nico
17 reviews
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August 15, 2024
written over 20 years ago and it is just as relevant as ever.
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Edwin mateo
23 reviews
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August 6, 2017
Good teachings about business... But other than that a total waste of time. I
just finished it cuz i am not used to leaving things incomplete.
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Don
68 reviews5 followers
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July 3, 2013
"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of
unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial
complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and
will persist."
~ President Dwight Eisenhower, January 17, 1961
"Watch out now, take care, beware of greedy leaders - they take you where you
should not go..."
~ George Harrison, Beware of Darkness, November, 27 1970
These prescient words by a sitting President, who also was the Supreme Allied
Commander of the 1944 invasion of Normandy during Operation Overlord, served as
a warning to our country, to avoid an arms race with the Soviet Union. In fact,
he may have been channeling the late Marine General Smedley Butler (author of
“War Is a Racket”, published in 1935), when he stated "we must learn how to
compose differences not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose." Such
logical, ethical and humanitarian reasoning is actually disdained today, by the
war mongers, and polarizing media pundits, who run amuck in Washington, D.C.
Having spent parts of three decades employed in the industry President
Eisenhower warned America about, there was little, if anything that surprised me
of this thoroughly researched book. In a nutshell, it describes the influence
peddling and brokering that occurs by both former Cabinet members and
ex-Presidents, to wit, former Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci, former Secretary
of State James Baker, and former President George H.W. Bush. The sad reality is
Eisenhower was correct in his assessment that such untoward, intractable
influences could lead to a shadow government, which is unregulated and acts at
its own indiscretion, without participation by the citizenry of the American
Republic.
What may be illuminating to anyone that reads this well-written book is the very
real, verifiable active ownership, and participatory relationship that the Bin
Laden family of Saudi Arabia had of, and with, The Carlyle Group - strange
bedfellows, indeed.
This book details a particular sector of the American and International
economies that continues to avoid the illuminating spotlight that both former
Generals Eisenhower and Butler warned Americans about. I recommend it as it is
an intelligent assessment and recordation of the inner-workings of the
Military-Industrial Complex.
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Pratik Patankar
11 reviews1 follower
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October 12, 2012
"Fascinating" is the word that comes to mind after finishing this book - for the
subject and its details, not for the writing style. Being a journalistic piece,
it is presented in a straight-forward and factual way. However, the beauty of
this book lies in the details - of the deals and the characters that inhabit
these pages. The scary part is that we are looking at very real and very
powerful people who have shaped the economy of USA and consequently also of the
world. And the motivation for all this - the pursuit of Power! At all costs. At
any cost.
business
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Angela
1,773 reviews23 followers
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June 6, 2011
An intriguing read about something that is a bit scary. The Carlyle Group has
their fingers in a lot of pies that magically become gold pies. Is it just luck
that the companies they were part of made money off September 11, or was it
something planned. As Bush senior works for Carlyle, and influenced his son
while in office, did something get "missed" before 9/11?? The conspiracy
theorists should be running wild with this group.
non-fiction
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Tim H
8 reviews1 follower
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March 19, 2011
I found this book to be highly informative. It sheds a lot of light on the
workings of the system and how those in power will benefit from global wars and
crisis. I found it wasn't the easiest to read. A lot of fact. Just press on and
you'll find the associations between the elite and the military industrial
complex. Right wing, left wing. It doesn't matter. This information has no
political leaning. It's the straight up truth.
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Naeem
442 reviews263 followers
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August 3, 2007
If you follow the trail of money, power, and personal connection you get to
entities like the Carlyle Group -- concentrations of elites that run the world.
This book gives you the details of some of that world.
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April
590 reviews9 followers
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August 10, 2015
While reading this book, I worked at a PE specialist firm that invested in
Carlyle's funds. It was illuminating to read about the various ties to
government and how much influence was there. Didn't make me love my job more.
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Ming
143 reviews4 followers
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January 29, 2009
Read this in high school, A very cool piece of investigative journalism
detailing the role of private equity and political connections... answers all
your questions about the carlyle group
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Andy
11 reviews2 followers
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November 24, 2010
Who knew? Bush and his cronies DIDN'T invent this greedy at everyone else's
expense thing.
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Darryl Stangry
212 reviews1 follower
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March 9, 2013
Classic business text. Entertaining but may be a little exaggerated for
experienced finance / business reader.
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Priyank
16 reviews3 followers
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June 4, 2013
Very illuminating (for lack of better word)... I hope the publishers/authors do
an updated edition with developments of the last decade
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Scott
42 reviews
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August 8, 2014
Shocking. Our lovely Military-Congressional-Industrial complex at work!
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Scott Bartley
53 reviews1 follower
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September 19, 2014
OK, i feel like he was desperately searching for a controversy
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
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