The Navigator
Judgement in the fog, money, risk and the call others cannot make.
William D. Cohan navigates the treacherous interior of Wall Street power by charting institutions through accumulated evidence rather than surface narrative. His insistence that you can only write reporting reflects a methodical course-correction from speculation to documented truth, the essence of The Navigator.
“Well, you know, we could debate that probably endlessly. And there are people who love to debate this. I mean, having worked at GE Capital, I'm actually sympathetic. If you've got $650 billion of assets floating around, including loans, actual buildings because you're in the real estate business.”
“Alstom, the big power generation business in France, and was remaking the company. And he thought, well, he had been told that activist investors were going to come into the company one way or another, so Jeff decided he would invite someone in who we thought would be friendly to him because he knew Edgarden's brother from Dartmouth and h…”
“I feel like that's, you know, I write the books that I would like to read so they have to be sort of part oral history. Part real history, part investigative reporting, part documentary deep dive and evidence. And I like to get at the DNA of these firms or these companies, right? And the DNA of GE goes back to the late 19th century.”
“That's not how it works out. It's fine if you make your numbers and the stock price goes up and you do everything he wants you to do. But Jeff got overtaken by events. It didn't work out. And the smiling crocodile Nelson bared his teeth and basically was responsible for Jeff Immot being fired. And basically being responsible for firing.”
Masters in Business: “William D. Cohan on the Rise and Fall of GE”
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