Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Amazon Prime includes:
Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.
Amazon Prime members enjoy:- Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
- Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
- Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
- A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
- Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
- Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access
Important: Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.
-14% $17.99$17.99
Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com
$6.49$6.49
FREE delivery August 12 - 15
Ships from: ThriftBooks-Chicago Sold by: ThriftBooks-Chicago
Learn more
1.27 mi | ASHBURN 20147
Returnable | Yes |
---|---|
Resolutions | Eligible for refund or replacement |
Return Window | 30 days from delivery |
Refund Timelines | Typically, an advance refund will be issued within 24 hours of a drop-off or pick-up. For returns that require physical verification, refund issuance may take up to 30 days after drop-off or pick up. Where an advance refund is issued, we will re-charge your payment method if we do not receive the correct item in original condition. See details here. |
Late fee | A late fee of 20% of the item price will apply if you complete the drop off or pick up after the ‘Return By Date’. |
Restocking fee | A restocking fee may apply if the item is not returned in original condition and original packaging, or is damaged or missing parts for reasons not due to Amazon or seller error. See details here. |
Return instructions
Item must be in original condition and packaging along with tag, accessories, manuals, and inserts. Unlock any electronic device, delete your account and remove all personal information. |
Returnable | Yes |
---|---|
Resolutions | Eligible for refund or replacement |
Return Window | 30 days from delivery |
Refund Timelines | Typically, an advance refund will be issued within 24 hours of a drop-off or pick-up. For returns that require physical verification, refund issuance may take up to 30 days after drop-off or pick up. Where an advance refund is issued, we will re-charge your payment method if we do not receive the correct item in original condition. See details here. |
Late fee | A late fee of 20% of the item price will apply if you complete the drop off or pick up after the ‘Return By Date’. |
Restocking fee | A restocking fee may apply if the item is not returned in original condition and original packaging, or is damaged or missing parts for reasons not due to Amazon or seller error. See details here. |
Return instructions
Item must be in original condition and packaging along with tag, accessories, manuals, and inserts. Unlock any electronic device, delete your account and remove all personal information. |
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Broadbandits: Inside the $750 Billion Telecom Heist 1st Edition
Purchase options and add-ons
Once the foundation of the Dow and NASDAQ, the telecom industry has eaten up more capital than any other industry in recent history and has nothing to show for it. Today, it is by far the worst culprit in the spate of financial dirty dealings that have been splashed across the business pages, and yet the rewards reaped by top executives at many of these failed or failing companies have been inversely proportionate to their decline. Broadbandits takes readers behind the scenes to get the story they won't get in the media. Investigative reporter Om Malik follows the money trail and deciphers the actions and motivations of a generation of new economy "barbarians" that brought down this once lucrative industry. This intriguing book offers an inside look into the telecom bubble, with tales and anecdotes about mavericks who turned simple light and glass fibers into veins of gold, financiers who got greedy and fleeced unsuspecting millions, clueless venture capitalists who thought they'd tapped into the mother lode, hapless entrepreneurs who believed that they were changing the world, and self-proclaimed pundits who were cheering it all on from the sidelines. Broadbandits is a compelling account of the downfall of telecom giants such as WorldCom and Global Crossing, and will show readers how many telecom upstarts and veterans alike became victims of what one chief executive aptly described as "high-yield heroin."
Om Malik (New York, NY) is a Senior Writer for Red Herring who focuses on the telecommunications sector. Prior to joining Red Herring in July 2000, he was senior editor at Forbes.com. His work has also been published in newspapers and magazines such as The Wall Street Journal, Business 2.0, Brandweek, and Crain's New York Business. For a very brief while, he was a venture capitalist.
- ISBN-109780471660613
- ISBN-13978-0471660613
- Edition1st
- PublisherWiley
- Publication dateNovember 8, 2004
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions5.67 x 0.98 x 8.7 inches
- Print length352 pages
Editorial Reviews
From the Inside Flap
Broadbandits weaves together a story of greed, money, power, and crime to reveal to the millions of people who lost their investments in telecom stock where, and to whom, their hard-earned dollars went.
--Charles Dubow, Executive Editor, Forbes.com
Om Malik has the courage to write that instead of reporting EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization), the CEOs he calls broadbandits reported their own style of EBITDA (Earnings Before Irregularities, Tampering, and Dubious Accounting). His pen is as wicked as Mark Twain's.
--Blaise Zerega, Managing Editor, Wired magazine
Rare for a book in its field, Broadbandits is an attractive, stodge-free read. Accessible, even mischievous, it should prove instructive not merely to geeks, (disgruntled) venture capitalists, and bankrupt telecom tycoons, but also to that species most neglected of all--the lay reader.
--Tunku Varadarajan, Editorial Features Editor, The Wall Street Journal
Broadbandits is a fast-paced tale of the key players responsible for inflating the telecom bubble. Many were fools, many others rogues, some managed to escape with riches, some were ruined. With an unforgettable cast, Broadbandits is a sobering account of monumental financial waste and the derailment of hundreds of thousands of lives.
--Andrew Odlyzko, Director, Digital Technology Center and Assistant Vice President for Research, University of Minnesota
From the Back Cover
"Broadbandits weaves together a story of greed, money, power, and crime to reveal to the millions of people who lost their investments in telecom stock where, and to whom, their hard-earned dollars went."
Charles Dubow, Executive Editor, Forbes.com
"Om Malik has the courage to write that instead of reporting EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization), the CEOs he calls broadbandits reported their own style of EBITDA (Earnings Before Irregularities, Tampering, and Dubious Accounting). His pen is as wicked as Mark Twain's."
Blaise Zerega, Managing Editor, Wired magazine
"Rare for a book in its field, Broadbandits is an attractive, stodge-free read. Accessible, even mischievous, it should prove instructive not merely to geeks, (disgruntled) venture capitalists, and bankrupt telecom tycoons, but also to that species most neglected of all the lay reader."
Tunku Varadarajan, Editorial Features Editor, The Wall Street Journal
"Broadbandits is a fast-paced tale of the key players responsible for inflating the telecom bubble. Many were fools, many others rogues, some managed to escape with riches, some were ruined. With an unforgettable cast, Broadbandits is a sobering account of monumental financial waste and the derailment of hundreds of thousands of lives."
Andrew Odlyzko, Director, Digital Technology Center and Assistant Vice President for Research, University of Minnesota
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : 0471660612
- Publisher : Wiley; 1st edition (November 8, 2004)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 352 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780471660613
- ISBN-13 : 978-0471660613
- Item Weight : 14.1 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.67 x 0.98 x 8.7 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,501,873 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,749 in Telecommunications & Sensors
- #4,357 in Internet & Telecommunications
- #14,879 in Business & Finance
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
Customer reviews
- 5 star4 star3 star2 star1 star5 star46%34%20%0%0%46%
- 5 star4 star3 star2 star1 star4 star46%34%20%0%0%34%
- 5 star4 star3 star2 star1 star3 star46%34%20%0%0%20%
- 5 star4 star3 star2 star1 star2 star46%34%20%0%0%0%
- 5 star4 star3 star2 star1 star1 star46%34%20%0%0%0%
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
His timing on publishing this book could not be better, given the backdrop of ongoing investigations and legal action against many of the companies or principals he writes about. I find it ironic that a number of these "visionaries" and "promoters" who were paid like kings because they were supposedly so invaluable to their companies or firms, now use as a defense that they really didn't know what was going on in their companies. It is amazing people like Bernie Ebbers who made literally hundreds, if not thousands, of presentations to knowledgeable investors, who ask insightful questions, could now make this claim. Also, where are the other research analysts on Wall Street. It is one thing for Grubman to be an active co-conspirator, but where was the independent research that should have debunked these charlatans before they got started. The easiest myth to debunk of all is the myth that the Internet was growing 100% every four months over a sustainable period and press releases that claimed dial port consumption was increaseing 10% per month. Any reasonably asstute person could do the calculations on this and realize that there are not enough people or information to sustain this growth rate for more than a fleeting moment. In a matter of a couple of years everyone in the US would have had to have been signed onto an individual dial port twenty-four hours a day. Om Malik makes it clear how phony these arguments are and how dishonest and disingenuous they are. Future generations will look back on this much as we look back at the Tulip Bubble in Holland and wonder how did anybody ever believe any of this. This is a great first book for Om Malik.
Broadbandits profiles most of the key individuals and companies who helped inflate (and in many cases profit from) the telecom bubble, at a steady one company per chapter pace. Being in the telecom industry myself (still), I can state that Malik accurately captured the major stories I already knew, so I assume the rest of the book is generally factual. Although Malik focuses most of his anger on company bigwigs, he also admits that a bubble the size of this one could not have been created without active, willing participation from all sectors of the community: greedy disconnected CEOs, conflicted Wall Street and industry analysts, small investors who wanted to double their money overnight, and a unique confluence of regulatory and technological changes and advances.
Broadbandits could have been better. Malik's principle sources are business press articles, and he has a fascination with documenting dollar figures, so he doesn't probe as deeply as he could into the reasons behind the actions he reports. The book was written hurriedly (to keep it topical), and there are more than a few data errors. Malik correctly cites Ravi Suria's seminal report on the debt and finances of telecom firms, which proved how the emperor of telecom stocks had no clothes (I remember almost crying for joy when I originally read Suria's report), but he missed Jeremy Siegel's equally important bubble bursting op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal proving that Cisco and other high P/E stocks were way overvalued and that we were experiencing another "Nifty Fifty" tech mania episode. Finally, to return to my Dickens reference, the book would be even more dramatic if it recounted more anecdotal stories and statistics of the small investors and employees who lost their money, retirement savings and jobs, to provide contrast to the well-documented stories of folks who cleared many millions during the boom. However, I do admit that with the title of Broadbandits, the focus is on the bigwigs who inflated and profited from the bubble.
One more minor quibble: two of the people who praise Broadbandits on the back cover are thanked by Malik in his Acknowledgements. Conflicts of interest are everywhere! And just what did Malik do during his brief stint as a venture capitalist?
From Malik's book it sounds like Gilder didn't either, and -- it seems to me -- that as the wreck was approaching he was screaming "full steam ahead." It's too bad really, because in the end some of Gilder's predictions about wasting bandwidth may well turn out to be prescient. But as that famous quote from Keynes said, "In the long run we're all dead."
What the industry really needs as a replacement to Gilder is someone more like an Old Testament prophet -- that is someone who can at the same time chastise and point specifically to the right path. (Gilder was more of a psalmist -- singing praises to the Lord and making us all feel good about ourselves.)
I think our new prophet is also going to have to talk a lot less about raw growth and a lot more about where value is actually to be found.
Top reviews from other countries
éä¿¡äºæ¥è...ã«åãã"ã¨ãªããã-ãã¼ããã³ãã®é£ç©é£é-ã¨ã§ãè¨ããããæ-°èéä¿¡äºæ¥è...ããã³ãã¼ã証å¸ã¢ããªã¹ãããã-ã¦ã"ã¸ã§ããªã¼ã¾ã§ãã«ãã¼ããã¦ããã
売ãä¸ã'ã'æ°'å¢-ã-ããããã«å®¢ã®ã¤ãã¦ããªãä¼éè·¯ã'äº'ãã«å£²è²·ã-ã¦ãæé·æ§ã'ã¦ã©ã¼ã«ã¹ããªã¼ãã«è¨'ããæ-°èéä¿¡äºæ¥è...ã
å¿...è¦ã«å¿ãã¦è²·ãæ¨å¥¨éæã®ä¼æ¥ã®å-ç· å½¹ä¼ã«ã¾ã§åºå'ãã¦ã¢ããªã¹ãå'ã'ã®æ³å®åç"ã'æå°ããã¾ã§ã-ã¦è²!·ãç¸å 'ã'çãä¸ã'ã¾ãã£ã証å¸ã¢ããªã¹ãã
æ-°èéä¿¡äºæ¥è...ããã®å£²ãä¸ã'ã'ããä¸ã'ããããã«ä½ã®ã"ã¨ã¯ãªãèªåã§é'ã'貸ã-ã¦èªåã®æ©å¨ã'è²·ãå-ããã³ãã¼ã»ãã¡ã¤ãã³ã¹ã§æ ªä¾¡å¯¾ç-ã«å¥"èµ°ã-ãéä¿¡æ©å¨ã¡ã¼ã«ã¼ã
ã-ãã¼ããã³ãéè¦ã天äºç¥ããã§ä¼¸ã³ç¶ã'ãã¨äºè¨ã-ãç¸å 'å½¢æã«å¤§ãã«è²¢ç®ã-ãã"ã¸ã§ããªã¼ã
ç¹å®å人ã®ååããããã"åºã¦ãããã-ãã-ãªãããã"ãã¯ãã-ã«ã¨ãããã®ã®æ§é çãªåé¡ã§ãããã¨ããããã«èªè...ãã¡ã«æããããã¨ãã-ã¦ããã¨æããã
ã-ãã¼ããã³ãã»ãã-ã«ä¼æ¥ã'糾弾ããã¨ããã"ã¨èªä½"ãæ-¬ã'éãã¦ã-ã¾ã£ãããã«æããä»æã®æ-¥æ¬ã§ã¯å¤åé¦è¨³ã¯åºãªãã ãããã-ãã-ãªããããã¤ä½æãã¾ãããã-ãªã¼ãªæ-¥ãæ¥ãã¨ãã-ããªããã-ãã¼ããã³ãã®å©ããããå±é-ããã!¦ããæ¨ä»ã®æ-¥æ¬ã®ç¶æ³ã'è½ã¡çãã¦è¦æ®ããããã®è¦-ç¹ã
ãã®ãããªåãããã¦ãããä¸åãªã®ã ã¨æãã