Master of the Game

Bruck’s biography of Steve Ross, who took a family funeral-home business, merged it into a parking-lot company, bought a talent agency and then Warner Bros., and assembled the conglomerate that became Time Warner — while running it with an expense account, a private jet and a tolerance for the mob-adjacent that would not survive modern disclosure. A deal-making story, and a cautionary one about what serial acquisition does to governance.

Why it’s on the list: One of the 46 titles on @mastersinvest’s 2025 reading list — not bold, so read but not singled out as very good.

Where I saw it: @mastersinvest’s “2025 Reading … so far” list, August 20, 2025. The full 46-title list is transcribed on 2025 Reading So Far… (tweet).

Connections

• 2025 Reading So Far… (tweet) — the list this came from.
• Media — the assembly of what became Time Warner.
• M&A — Ross built the whole thing by acquisition, which is the book’s subject and its warning.