Book · 1990
Barbarians at the Gate
- mentions
- 9
- people
- 7
- podcasts
- 7
- episodes
- 8
- recommendations
- 4
Barbarians at the gate was better booked was it was a tv movie with james gardner it was good yeah it's worth watching the book is excellent the book is focused next level.
What they say about it
- Focus on RJR Nabisco buyout“leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco”3
- Praises the book“the book is excellent”3
The best things said about it
I genuinely think it's kind of the gold standard of narrative business journalism today, but really it's kind of like a history of American business over the past century told through the prism of this private equity deal.
And of course Barbarians at the gate by Brian Bros I mean those those were really I think they they they created so much of the model for this type of narrative.
Andrew Ross Sorkin The Book Review · Sep 2018 It reminds me of the good old, the barbarians, the gate story. You know, this is one of those famous stories in a great HBO series, great book with RJ R and Abisco where they, they kept doing the work.
Jason Calacanis This Week in Startups · Oct 2026 I loved Barbarians of the Gate.
Andrew Ross Sorkin All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg · Oct 2025 The firm was immortalized in the 1989 book Barbarians at the Gate about their leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco.
Stephen Dubner Freakonomics Radio · May 2024 That's a famous book written about the RJR takeover done by KKR in 1989.
Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
1
1
3
1
1
2
How it comes up
7 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar is a classic work of narrative business journalism documenting the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. Robin Wigglesworth recommended it on The Ezra Klein Show as the gold standard of narrative business journalism and a history of American business told through corporate acquisitions. Andrew Ross Sorkin on The Book Review and All-In similarly praised it as a foundational narrative that shaped the modern genre, while also mentioning how much he personally admired the human stories within it. On All-In, David Sacks and Jason Calacanis noted that the book offered focused, next-level reporting, with Calacanis later referencing the corporate investigation and travel-expense details on This Week in Startups. Stephen Dubner discussed the volume on Freakonomics Radio to provide historical context on the private equity firm KKR, and Sam Parr noted on My First Million that he owned the book while discussing aggressive corporate takeovers of the 1980s.
Every mention
Andrew Ross Sorkin and of course Barbarians at the gate by Brian Bros I mean those those were really I think they they they cr… 2
Discussed
“I loved Barbarians of the Gate.”
Recommended
“and of course Barbarians at the gate by Brian Bros I mean those those were really I think they they they created so much of the model for this type of narrative”
Jason Calacanis Yeah, it's worth watching. The book is excellent, focused next level. 2
Discussed
“It reminds me of the good old, the barbarians, the gate story. You know, this is one of those famous stories in a great HBO series, great book with RJ R and Abisco where they, they kept doing the work.”
Recommended
“Yeah, it's worth watching. The book is excellent, focused next level.”
David Sacks barbarians at the gate was better booked was it was a tv movie with james gardner it was good yeah it's wor… 1
Recommended
“barbarians at the gate was better booked was it was a tv movie with james gardner it was good yeah it's worth watching the book is excellent the book is focused next level”
Robin Wigglesworth I think the obvious first place, the first book is is Barbarians at the Gate. I I genuinely think it's kind… 1
Recommended
“I think the obvious first place, the first book is is Barbarians at the Gate. I I genuinely think it's kind of the gold standard of of narrative business journalism today, but really it's kind of like um a history of American business over the past century told through the prism of this private equity deal and all the crazy”
David M. Rubenstein for those who don't know that's a famous book written about the rjr takeover done by kkr in 1989 1
Discussed
“for those who don't know that's a famous book written about the rjr takeover done by kkr in 1989”
Sam Parr i have the book barbarian i haven't read it yet uh yeah that's basically what they did like it was like it… 1
Discussed
“i have the book barbarian i haven't read it yet uh yeah that's basically what they did like it was like it was like warfare”
Stephen Dubner The Firm was immortalized in the 1989 book Barbarians at the gate about their leveraged buyout of RJR Nabis… 1
Discussed
“The Firm was immortalized in the 1989 book Barbarians at the gate about their leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco just to be clear KKR were the barbarians”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (5: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“That's what we're talking about at Barbarians at the gate where it's the dog. Yeah, Barbarians at the gate.”
Passing
“I called it Barbarians at the Gate, but with the the barbarians is spelled with an AI in homage to the RJR Nabisco deal in the 1980s and a book that was written about that.”
Passing
“The firm was immortalized in the 1989 book 'Barbarians at the Gate' about their leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco.”
Passing
“this would have been a movie Barbarians at the gate was kind of like a weird thing that happened that that became like a TV movie a mini series four part”
Passing
“I read something that you had had said or written the barbarians are at the gate am I being attacked yes you are”