Crash Landing

CHAPTER 1

BORROWED TIME

Steven Mnuchin was sick of talking about global warming.

Half an hour into a private dinner at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the conversation had been of little else. Executives from the biggest companies in the world had gathered in the ritzy ski town s famed Grand Hotel Belvédère. A shrine to a nineteenth-century European version of wellness, nestled into the side of Davos s steep hill, in recent times the hotel served as the power center of the annual summit. For one week a year in late January, snipers patrolled its rooftops as the world s corporate elite gathered. It was a long and annoying trip, even by private jet, but the chance to rub elbows with their peers and senior government officials and to be seen as masters of the universe, thought leaders for the century to come was irresistible. Among the attendees at that evening s dinner were Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Facebook s Sheryl Sandberg, Chevron s Mike Wirth, IBM s Ginni Rometty, Volkswagen chairman Herbert Diess, and Wall Street dealmaker Ken Moelis, along with Mnuchin and his colleague in Trump s cabinet, Wilbur Ross, the octogenarian commerce secretary.

This kind of dinner was exactly what these corporate executives had come to the Alps for. Squeezed around a long table covered in white linen and dotted with fresh-cut flowers and elegant candle tapers, the group had somberly if not soberly discussed the need for more radical action on climate change.

It was the kind of tin-eared talk that was as much a part of Davos as alpaca-lined parkas and galosh-covered Armani loafers. The organization behind it all, the World Economic Forum, had been founded in 1971 by a Swiss university professor as a humble academic venue for resolving international conflicts and promoting shared prosperity.

But in recent years it had become a capitalist cheerfest, where the highest-tier tickets cost more than $500,000 and even a spartan hotel room fetched

Liz Hoffman is the business and finance editor at Semafor. Previously, she was a senior reporter at The Wall Street Journal, where she covered financial markets, corporate dealmaking, and the machinations of Wall Street. A native of central Pennsylvania, Hoffman graduated from Tufts University and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

This book reads like a suspense thriller because that s what it is, even though every word is true. Brian Koppelman, co-creator, showrunner, and executive producer of Showtime s Billions

A riveting chronicle of the boardroom brinksmanship. Bradley Hope, bestselling author of Billion Dollar Whale

Liz Hoffman offers something fresh and much needed: an insider tale of what it takes to steer a company indeed, an economy through a shock that nobody saw coming. The aspiring C-suite class should take note. Harvey Schwartz, former president of Goldman Sachs

A rare look inside the split-second, high-stakes decisions at the top of America s corporate giants . . . This book reflects Liz Hoffman s rare combination of valuable gifts: vivid writing, incredible access and sourcing, and actual insight. Mary Childs, bestselling author of The Bond King, co-host of NPR s Planet Money

A momentous story told with the urgency of Too Big to Fail and the unforgettable characterizations of The Big Short. Brad Stone, bestselling author of Amazon Unbound and The Everything Store

Those eager to prepare for the next crisis should read this book and heed its lessons. Gregory Zuckerman, bestselling author of The Man Who Solved the Market

Savvy analysis and colorful reportage make this an engrossing boardroom view of an economic cataclysm. Publishers Weekly

A well-informed perspective on a devastating crisis. Kirkus Reviews